I DON'T want this to be a Thrive -vs- Mario thread, that was not the intention.

IT IS the intention to try a new piece, and see how it is. IF IT IS GOOD, THEN IT'S GOOD!

5 years ago, I DID NOT like switching power supply amplifiers, either! But, the technology has evolved considerably since 5 years ago, and today I DO like the switching PSU amps available!

I also gave up vinyl, and today use Serato and a laptop to play music, again, times, technology, and entire formats changed, so I did too!

Both Mercedes and BMW make well engineered, and well made cars, BUT, both handle and feel differently from each other. IS IT possible to LIKE both, for different reasons?

Or how about crossing formats, playing BOTH CD and vinyl and you find that when your system is optimized for vinyl, CD doesn't sound right, and now we have the Serato/Laptop revolution, and thus, again, is different from either vinyl or CD, and requires a different voicing and setup for optimum results, and the end user makes a choice, to optimize for the format they use the most, and what's the most current format!

Times changed, formats changed, technology changed, and so, I CHANGED TOO! and as i had posted in another thread, what we/I were talking about 5 years ago, may or may not still be credible information pertain ing to HOW THINGS ARE DONE, and THE REQUIREMENTS for todays formats and music!

BTW, here is YET another HUGE change I made, I went back to more traditional crossovers, and do not use the RLA any longer. There is something gained, and we knew this 20 years ago, too, but, as much as the RLA had a certain sound with vinyl of the period, but, there was always a slight bit higher fidelity to be obtained going directly into the full range crossover, as opposed to being fed from the RLA,s full out.

Things I like, liked, and find I might like better now are all relevant to the time period I was doing these things. Music changed, audio technology changed, and will continue to do so, and things I like and things I use change to best suit what it is I'm doing at THIS point in time!